


When I Realized What You Meant to Me

by retribution



Series: Rei x Senpai (Samurai AU) [4]
Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Bathing/Washing, Buttsex, First Time, Food, Foot Fetish, Innuendo, M/M, Nervousness, Samurai, guest appearances by everyone else - Freeform, lmao kill me now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-29
Updated: 2015-11-19
Packaged: 2018-04-28 18:04:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5100455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/retribution/pseuds/retribution
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>stronger than a sword, a relationship built over time, with trust and kindness and hope.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Makoto/Rei, samurai AU, loosely based on the events of Brilliance.

Makoto felt guilty for ditching the others early during their time together at the dojo, but they had been informed about his other duties, how he was helping Sasabe-sensei with the town smithy’s increasing workload.  Because during peacetime, their clans had to take on various responsibilities in order to support the small but growing city of Iwami.  Nanase and Matsuoka clans both contributed to the fishing, while Hazuki tended to an orchard on their lands.  (They later discovered that the Ryuuguzakis, besides working governmental affairs, had once traded in silks, although Rei could not be expected to do much without a clan of his own any longer.)  Haruka continued to look less than thrilled for some days after Makoto began his shift; however, he seemed to eventually come to terms with the gradually diverging paths of their futures.  At least, Makoto sensed that he had, though he could not be sure.

Today, Rei of all people followed Makoto home, looking strangely lonely without Nagisa bounding along at his side, and as they walked back to the Tachibana residence, Makoto had to ask why.

“I was curious to see what Makoto-senpai does in his spare time.  I have never seen a swordsmith at work before, and Nagisa-kun said he has already seen the smithy.  And… if there is anything I can do to help you and Sasabe-sensei…”

“Thank you, I appreciate the offer, Rei,” Makoto said, genuinely touched by this gesture.  “It’s very hot and grueling work at best, but you are welcome to watch if you like.”

Rei seemed a little more excited to learn about the art of smithing than Makoto had expected, but there was a plethora of technique and knowledge for him to mull over.  He flitted all about the workshop, asking about the temperature of the forge, the composition of the steel, the attributes of the hammer and tongs, the quality of the wood and water and sand, until Makoto told him to sit down quietly in a corner while he finished mending a broken hilt.

“May I try?  Just something small perhaps?” Rei asked hopefully as soon as Makoto set the cooled tantou aside.

Laughing, Makoto shook his head at such enthusiasm.  It took years of apprenticeship to master such a complex set of skills, but of course, Rei would want to try his hand with only a superficial knowledge.  Still, Makoto thought he could use an assistant of his own.  It wasn’t as if Rei could get in that much trouble, as long as he stayed far away from open flames or large bodies of water…

“Sure, I can find something for you to do.  Here, let’s tie your sleeves up out of the way.”  Handing Rei a sash, Makoto helped him fix the sleeves of his kimono in order to keep them from dragging into the ash and coal.

“Your arms look great, Rei…” he murmured.  He could tell how much care Rei took into maintaining his body from just a brush of his hand over the sculpted biceps.

“Thank you, Makoto-senpai!” Rei said, beaming brightly.

“Oh, I mean,” Makoto blurted out, suddenly aware he had spoken that aloud, “you look like you won’t have a problem with using the tools!  Because they’re somewhat unwieldy…”  Embarrassed, Makoto changed the subject and handed the hammer to Rei.  “Anyway!  This is the hammer.”

“I know that.”

“You use it… to hammer…” at Rei’s nod, Makoto blushed even further, “You hammer this metal here, that you hold with the tongs on the anvil, to the desired thickness.”

“I see.”

Conscious that he was sweating even more than usual, Makoto took a breath to clear his thoughts.  “It’s fine if it doesn’t look perfectly flat right away, though,” he managed to say in a normal, steady tone of voice.  “To be honest, I sometimes like to hammer things just for stress relief.”

Rei laughed and nodded.  He tried a few tentative taps, getting a feel for the weight in his hand, how hard and how fast to swing to get an even hammering effect.

“What does Makoto-senpai stress about, may I ask?”

“Well… I guess about Haru mostly,” Makoto replied, scratching his chin.  “He has his ways, you know, and lately… it’s been hard communicating with him.”

“Haruka-senpai?” Rei looked thoughtful for a few moments.  “I have noticed that he seems quieter than usual. It does concern me as well, though I admit I have my hands full with both Rin and Nagisa these days.”

They shared a chuckle of commiseration in regards to their impulsive, inexplicable companions.

“I am afraid I don’t know Haruka-senpai so well, but I can always hear you out if you just want to… talk.”

“Ah, thanks for the offer, Rei, but I wouldn’t worry about it.  I’m sure everything will work out with Haru eventually.” Makoto smiled, warmed by such consideration, and added, “And the same goes for me, I will be more than happy to listen if you need me to, about anything.”

“I may take you up on that soon,” Rei said.

As expected, Rei did not come close to master smithing with just one hour of experience, but he seemed to enjoy the work, even with the unlovely sweating and straining that came with it.

After a while, Makoto resumed his assigned work for the day, making progress on patching and polishing worn blades and hilts belonging to various citizens of Iwami town.  They closed up the workshop for the afternoon and agreed to eat and rest at the Tachibana residence before Rei returned to the palace.

“Eh? Who’s this, onii-chan?!” the twins asked, catching sight of a stranger at their doorstep.

“You’ve seen him before, this is Ryuuguzaki Rei, a friend of ours when we lived at the inn.  He lives with Rin now.  Rei, meet Ran and Ren, my younger siblings.”

“Ah!  Butterfly-brother!”

They immediately began pestering Rei with questions about numerous and mostly irrelevant topics, while Rei agreeably tried to answer whichever he could, and Makoto had to shoo the twins back to their room so they could find some food.

“But shouldn’t we bathe first?” Rei asked, which Makoto had to concede, considering the sweat-drenched state of their clothes.

Only very little time passed before Makoto began to regret agreeing to this.  They had gone swimming and bathing together in the past, but that had been in the company of the others, and now with only Rei behind him, scrubbing briskly away at his back, he felt extremely self-conscious.  That only worsened when Rei swept his hair out of the way and over his shoulder, and Makoto had to return the favor with shaking hands.  With effort, Makoto tried to not stare at the drops of water that slid down the nape of Rei’s neck, over the muscles of his back (which of course turned out to be just as shapely as the ones of his arms and legs), and into the strangely enticing dip of his lower back.

“Makoto-senpai?” Rei turned to look at Makoto, who had paused some moments before, wash cloth gripped tightly in one hand.

“Oh, sorry, Rei!  I was thinking about… dinner.”

“It’s fine,” Rei told him with a contented smile.  “I had been thinking of dinner myself.”

The rest of the afternoon and evening passed by quietly, with no further incident, except for Ran and Ren sneaking out once to further acquaint themselves with their new onii-chan, and Makoto having to take them back to bed.

Stomachs full and muscles pleasantly aching from the afternoon’s labor, Makoto and Rei parted ways at the gate.  Makoto had offered to walk Rei home, but Rei politely declined, saying that Rin’s place was just down the main road.

“Thank you for indulging my curiosity today, Makoto-senpai,” Rei told him earnestly.  “I hope I was not too much of a bother.”

“No, of course not!  Actually, I had a lot of fun.  You are welcome back any time you are free, Rei.”

“Yes, certainly.  I will be leaving now.  Have a good night, Makoto-senpai.”  Rei folded his arms and bowed his head slightly, and in a surge of pity for this lonely, awkward young man still so out of his element in society, Makoto swept him up into a brief, tight hug.

“Take care of yourself, Rei,” he said before letting go.  “I’ll see you soon.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God bless Makoto's fetish for Rei's legs

At first, Rei suspected nothing when Kisumi suggested he accompany them to Makoto’s residence for Hayato’s lesson in sword-smithing.  In fact, he had a very refreshing and amusing conversation with Kisumi while Makoto instructed Hayato in the finer details of the art of creating a katana blade; it just so happened that Kisumi was an endless source of anecdotes about Rin and Haruka and Makoto and even Sousuke during their childhood days.  But the moment Kisumi asked Makoto if he could watch over Ran and Ren as well as his own little brother, Rei began to feel a growing sense of foreboding.

“Hayato hasn’t made many friends yet in Iwatobi,” Kisumi was explaining, “and I thought it would be a good idea to take all three of them to visit around town for the rest of the day.  You’ve worked hard for Sasabe-sensei, Makoto, so this would give you some time to relax without having to worry about the twins.”

“Oh…  That’s very kind of you, Kisumi,” Makoto replied, still looking a little perplexed by this sudden proposal.  “Um… are you sure you can handle them?”

“Of course! Sousuke will be with me.”

“Ah…” Can Sousuke handle all four of them, was the unspoken question.  “Well, I suppose it might be nice having someone else handle supper for Ran and Ren for just one night…”

“Then it’s settled!  They can even sleep over at Rin’s place, he has so many unused rooms, I’m sure he won’t mind.  Don’t you worry, Makoto!”  Turning to Rei, Kisumi gave him a grossly knowing wink and said, “Rei, you stay here.  It is up to you to make sure Makoto is not worrying on his day off.  Not about his siblings, not about me or Sousuke, not even about Haru!”

Makoto laughed aloud, rubbing the back of his head and insisting that he wasn’t worrying, at least, not that much. Rei did not feel quite as amused.  He may not have been the most socially adept person in the world, but even he could tell what Kisumi intended with this offer to babysit.  Spending the night alone with Makoto, with no distractions…  Had he been so transparent about his secret affections towards his senpai?  Flushing slightly, Rei murmured, “I will do my best, but I believe Rin may request me to check in…”

“No, he won’t, trust me, he would agree that this is the best idea, why he probably is already taking a break himself!” Kisumi assured him, a little too energetically.  “Just have a lovely day off, the two of you!”

“Thank you, Kisumi, for your generosity.”  Makoto, reassured now, went with Kisumi to gather the children, while Rei trailed after them, wringing his hands and fretting in nervous silence.  Watching Kisumi leave the grounds with Hayato and Ran and Ren in tow, Rei almost followed after them.  But this might be his best chance, Rei knew, and he should not waste Kisumi’s opening.  Focused and determined, he glanced up at Makoto, who was still waving fondly at his siblings.

“Makoto-senpai?  Shall we have dinner together then?” Rei asked with his most confident smile.  “And yes, I’ll do the cooking,” he added, for which Makoto thanked him profusely.  No need to have the house burn down on this perfect evening off, Rei thought.

His hands did shake a little while pouring some tea for Makoto, but otherwise, Rei thought dinner was progressing smoothly.  Then over halfway through the meal, Makoto picked up a piece of vegetable in his chopsticks and held them up to Rei’s mouth, apparently intending to feed him.  Embarrassed, though in a pleased way, Rei opened his mouth and ate the food with a delicate motion, while Makoto beamed at him and picked up another piece of food from his bowl.  Clearing his throat, Rei hesitantly bit into the fish and chewed; the confusion must have showed in his face.

“I’ve always thought food tastes better when shared, doesn’t it?” Makoto said by way of explanation.

Rei nodded, a thought occurring to him that Makoto probably did feed his siblings at dinnertime as they were growing up.  So wouldn’t it make sense for him to offer the same, as sort of recompense?

“Makoto-senpai, would you like some of this broth I’ve made?”

“Of course!”  But when Rei held up the spoon to him, Makoto took his wrist and drank from the spoon that way, with Rei blushing fiercely at how close they suddenly were, almost in each other’s laps.

“Delicious,” Makoto murmured with a contented sigh, letting go of Rei’s wrist at last.  “You must have learned a lot from Haru, haven’t you, Rei?”

“Ah, Haruka-senpai’s recipes are definitely culinary genius,” Rei told him earnestly.  “So I am pleased to hear you like my interpretations of his dishes.”

“I wish you could come cook for us more often, Rei.  This was very nice…” 

Even though Rei was full of both food and praise at this point, he let Makoto feed him some more, lingering over the sensation of Makoto’s hand gently grasping his chin, the pure affection in his gaze as he lightly placed a morsel onto Rei’s tongue.  It was just a brother’s habit of feeding his younger siblings, Rei thought, trying to will the redness from his cheeks, to no avail.  Giving up, he knelt utterly still, eyes lowered, while Makoto continued to stroke his cheek with a callused thumb, the last of their dinner long forgotten.

“Makoto-senpai?” Rei ventured at last, when he could not bear the tension any longer.  “Shouldn’t we clean up?”

“Oh, oh, yes.  Since you cooked, I’ll clean up here, you go ahead and use the bath.  I will join you shortly.”

After Rei scrubbed and rinsed himself, even brushed out the tangles from his hair and washed it twice, Makoto had still not joined him, and Rei began to wonder if something may have happened.  A very likely possibility, to be honest.  Rei got up to retrieve his robe, but much too quickly in the heat, and he almost fell against the door right as it opened to reveal Makoto.

“Careful, Rei!” Makoto called out, catching him under the shoulders and setting him back on his feet.  “What was the hurry?”

“I hadn’t heard from you in a while, so I thought something might have happened?”

“No, I’m fine, though I appreciate the concern,” Makoto replied, laughing.  His gaze swept automatically over Rei’s form, still naked and pink from the bath, and realizing where he was staring, Makoto reacted predictably, with a scarlet flush and mortified expression.

“I, should let you finish your bath!” he exclaimed, trying to shut the door while still holding onto Rei and of course failing.

“Wait, come finish with me, Makoto-senpai,” Rei insisted, pulling him into the room and shutting the door behind them.

“Oh,” was all Makoto could say, as Rei undressed him and sat him down and began attending to his bath.  “Oh,” again, when Rei knelt at his side to undo the tied-up knot of hair at his nape, and ran his fingers through the long thick hair.  As if they hadn’t bathed together before, suddenly Makoto could not look him in the eye, and he kept his hands clasped in front of him the whole time.

It seemed that Makoto was not acknowledging his attempt at seduction, and Rei almost sighed in frustration.  Well, he tried his best.  He bent to pick up his robe, but had gotten no further than throwing it over his shoulders when he felt Makoto place a hand on his lower back.

“Ah, there’s no need, Rei,” Makoto whispered into his ear.  “We are alone tonight, aren’t we?”

Rei almost fainted again seeing the intent glittering in Makoto’s eyes, and did not utter one word of protest as he was swept up in those strong arms and carried down the hall to Makoto’s room.  As gently as a sakura petal falling on the water, he was laid down on the spread out futon.

“Nagisa had said you slept best with someone in the room with you, is that correct?”

“Y-yes,” Rei whispered.

“Then… I hope you sleep well with me tonight.”

Of course that did not happen.  Rei closed his eyes and tried to breathe slowly and calmly, held close by Makoto, his cheek pressed against his bare chest.  His imagination had different plans, however, and with his heart racing so fast, Rei could not get to sleep. 

“Can you not sleep, Rei?” Makoto asked quietly.  “Are you hot?  Uncomfortable?”  He got up on one elbow, moving the blankets out of the way.

“No, I’m very comfortable, Makoto-senpai, thank you.  I suppose I am also… a little nervous.”

“Nervous?  About what?  It’s only me.”

“I usually stay up to read, so this is earlier than usual for me,” Rei explained hurriedly, trying to adjust his glasses that had long been set aside and pawing at air instead.  Mortified, he babbled, “And of course, since this is a new house, I wonder if all the hearths had been put out, if the gates are locked, and various things of that nature…”

“I’ve taken care of everything, Rei, neither of us have anything to worry about.  Trust me.”  Smiling kindly, Makoto reached down to touch Rei’s breastbone.  “Your heart is beating so fast, Rei.  And you are trembling.”  Makoto glanced down at Rei, then leaned in close, his breath hot against his cheek.

“You’re just like a butterfly, Rei, did you know that?”

“M-makoto-senpai!” Rei squeaked out, covering his face with his hands.

That made Makoto laugh.  “Sorry.  I mean to say, I like to look at you.”

“…Really?”

“You’re beautiful.  And I can’t help staring at you.  Even though it’s dark right now, I still want to look at you.”  Considering this, Makoto gave Rei a worried glance and said, “Is that all right?”

“Yes.  I don’t mind at all,” Rei assured him, cheeks growing even hotter than ever in his delight at discovering Makoto’s interest.

“Then… may I?” Makoto asked, his hand grazing over Rei’s hipbone.

“…Huh?” Rei choked out, as Makoto knelt between his legs, spreading his kimono open, gripping him by the back of the knee, bringing Rei’s shin up to press his lips to his leg, and kissing it ever so tenderly.

“Your legs especially are beautiful, Rei.  They are my favorite part to look at, out of all of you, who is my favorite.”  Slowly, he placed sweet, adoring kisses all over Rei’s leg, from knee to ankle, even the sole of the foot and the tips of his toes.  Below him, Rei squirmed, gasping slightly with each gentle nip and lick.  He had not expected this, and yet it did not bother him at all, seeing the pleasure Makoto obviously felt upon lavishing his legs with kisses.

When he had worshipped his fill, Makoto set Rei’s foot down on the tatami.  “Thank you for that, Rei,” he murmured, eyes deep and dark with satisfaction.

“But Makoto-senpai… you haven’t finished.”  With that statement, Rei pressed his foot gently against Makoto’s crotch, where the kimono had slid open, over the erection he knew would be there. 

Groaning in surprise, Makoto shuddered at the pressure.  “R-rei, wait—“ he stuttered out in a strained voice.  He tried to grab at Rei’s ankle, but instead his hips rocked forward of their own accord, pushing against the sole of the intruding foot, his cock straining upward, seeking friction.  “W-wait, Rei…” Makoto finally said, pulling Rei away from himself with significant reluctance.  “I don’t want to do it like this.”

“Then how?” Rei asked, mouth dry.

“I want… us both to come.  I want… to be inside of you when you do.”  His eyes sought Rei’s in the faint light of the moon.  “Do you want the same?”

Rei nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

With a relieved smile, Makoto leaned over him to kiss him on the mouth.  “I had been hoping, dreaming of this for so long,” he murmured against Rei’s lips when they paused.

Rei answered, breathless in his arousal, “As have I.”

With a joyous smile, Makoto dove in to kiss him over and over again, until Rei began to laugh, tickled by his hair brushing over his skin.  Drawing back, Makoto asked, “Let me know if it hurts, all right?” before proceeding to slick his fingers and stroke curiously between Rei’s legs.  Perhaps the unfamiliar stretch did sting a little at first, but Rei felt the fluttering in his stomach ease with each gentle probing motion, the pleasure mounting and swelling once Makoto discovered the perfect spot to make him cry out.  What remaining nervousness he had disappeared as Makoto pushed himself in all the way to the root.

“Rei… Rei…” he could hear Makoto whisper, and all he could do was groan wordlessly in response, shivering heatedly from the overwhelming pleasure.   “Relax, Rei… just relax, you’re doing good,” he heard, while a large hand rubbed comforting circles over his stomach.  “Good…  I’m going to move now.”

Rei didn’t even register when he had come, or when Makoto had, to his deep regret, as afterward, he blinked and stared at the wooden beams of the ceiling in a starry-eyed daze, and above him Makoto was apologizing about the mess he had made as he pulled out.

Clearly, the only logical answer; to do it again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the weird ending, had to drink half a bottle of wine to get through this. I'll post the extra chapter soon, thanks for reading!


	3. epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Innuendo galore.

“I must tell you, the other day, I finally managed to see it up close.  And just as you would imagine, Makoto-senpai’s was extremely massive, excessively so,” Rei stated very seriously to Nagisa beside him.

“Of course!  It’s Mako-chan’s!” Nagisa agreed, not exactly sure what Rei was talking about all of a sudden, but not willing to admit ignorance.

“I could not believe the size of it when he first drew it out,” Rei continued somberly.  “It kept on going, for what seemed forever.”

“Oh, I know! Mako-chan’s is so impressive, isn’t it?”

“Yes, and thick and heavy as well!  Even my hands were positively dwarfed by comparison when I wrapped my fingers around the base, I have never felt so inadequate in size and weight.”

Everyone had gone quiet some time ago, trying to not stare at Rei, or at Makoto, who had turned bright red and was radiating mortification.  In fact, halfway through this unasked-for description of Makoto’s whatever, a horrified Rin had placed his hands over his maiden sister’s ears while she whispered to Haruka to tell her what was going on.

Finally noticing the silence, Rei trailed off, looking at everyone in concerned curiosity.

“…Makoto’s oodachi.”

This came from Haruka, who only wanted dinner to continue so he could leave as soon as they finished and go back to swimming.

“…Oh… Right.  Oodachi.  Of course,” came various mutters from around the table, as they laughed nervously and tried to clear the extremely graphic mental picture Rei’s unfortunate choice of words had conjured.

“Yes, his oodachi. Why, what did everyone think I was talking about?” Rei asked, obliviously, or at least apparently obliviously.

“We’re talking Makoto’s oodachi oodachi, or his, you know,  _oodachi_  oodachi?” Sousuke eventually asked, as surely as the sunrise.

“His katana, it’s his katana, get your mind out of the gutter!” Rin snapped, whacking Sousuke on the shoulder and thus freeing Gou, who caught that last part and now knew who to ask the details from.

Unable to take any more attention, Makoto blurted out an excuse and got up to flee the common room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I forgot to post the epilogue! Anyway, it might be helpful to note that the oodachi is a massive katana, like almost Sephiroth's masamune size, practically.

**Author's Note:**

> Unlike the other rei/senpai works in this series, the main story is actually finished, porny bits and all! I had intended to write a very dramatic conclusion, but I uh forgot what it was about, so you'll just have to wonder along with me what the heckie Kisumi is keeping a secret about for once in his life.


End file.
